I was driving my kids to school the other day and while waiting at a light I couldn’t help but watch people going in and out of the local Dunkin Donuts coffee shop.

There was a brisk line (as there is every morning I drive the kids to school). And it came to me that this chronic use of coffee is an excellent example of how we can damage the metabolism of our body without even knowing.

When you wake up, your body requires food after having fasted all night. If you skip breakfast in favor of a large coffee, biochemically all h*ll breaks loose inside.

First, your cortisol is elevated to artificially high levels by the caffeine. High cortisol feels good, but is damaging to the body.

And if you have added sugar to your coffee or a donut or bagel, your blood sugar also spikes. When your blood sugar spikes, insulin is released to lower your blood sugar. But when your blood sugar drops under these circumstances, it is too much and too fast, so your brain demands more.

Your body then uses its cortisol to break down your muscle and bone for building blocks to help your liver make more sugar. You have shifted your body from growth and repair into a catabolic state (breaking down your important cells and tissues). And for all of you who still think using artificial sweeteners helps with weight control, this part of the break down is independent of sugar, so even with Splenda the breakdown is still occurring.

This scene plays out every day, living through a blood sugar spike which leads to an increase in insulin to remove the excess glucose, which then triggers the production of inflammatory chemicals, which in turn causes an increase cortisol. Cortisol then does it job and increases blood sugar and the vicious cycle continues.

As an added bonus, once insulin enters the picture, your body goes into fat storing mode (so you set yourself up for weight for the rest of the day while your body plays catch up on your metabolism).

So, in order be healthier you might just want to rethink the whole coffee thing and go with a couple of eggs.